A possibly confused sentence of Teffi

[melanie moore]

Hello, Robert,

This is my understanding too, that Teffi is terrified for the other woman
who is no more than clay in the potter's hands and, presumably, therefore
more acted upon than acting despite her revolutionary fervour.

Hope that helps.
Melanie


On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 8:47 PM, Paul B. Gallagher <
paulbg at pbg-translations.com> wrote:

> Robert Chandler wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> After a long and vivid description of a young woman, a brutal, austerely
>> idealistic revolutionary in a position of considerable power, Teffi (in
>> her imagination!) says this to her:
>> Не знаю, как могу смотреть на тебя и не кричать по-звериному, без слов,
>> -- не от страха, а от ужаса за тебя, за человека -- "глину в руках
>> горшечника", слепившего судьбу твою в непознаваемый рассудком час гнева
>> и отвращения...>>
>>
>> This is the same in several editions of /Vospominaniya/, including the
>>
>> first, but to me it doesn't quite make sense.  Something seems to go
>> wrong in the sentence at this point: а от ужаса *за тебя, за человека*
>>
>>
>> The important question is this:
>> Am I right in thinking that Teffi is saying that she is horrified not by
>> the woman herself, but by whoever it is who is responsible for shaping
>> this woman's fate?
>>
>
> It seems to me as a nonnative that the part you flag is fine, but I read
> it differently:
>
> I don't know how I can look at you and keep from screaming like an animal,
> wordlessly -- not out of fear, but out of horror for you [as] a person...
>
> So to me the contrast is between fear and horror, not between the various
> reasons for horror.
>
> --
> War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
> --
> Paul B. Gallagher
> pbg translations, inc.
> "Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
> http://pbg-translations.com
>
>
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